What is sleep, and why do we need it?

睡眠是什麼，我們為什麼需要睡眠？

I love this question, because kids and young people often ask me, why do we have to sleep?

我喜歡這個問題，因為孩子和年輕人經常問我，我們為什麼要睡覺？

So sleep is really important because when we're sleeping, our body's healing, our immune system is replenishing, we're digesting food, our muscles are relaxing, our brain is also working out what we've been doing during the day, and that often comes about in dreams.

所以睡眠真的很重要，因為當我們睡覺的時候，我們的身體在癒合，我們的免疫系統在補充營養，我們在消化食物，我們的肌肉在放鬆，我們的大腦也在思考我們白天所做的事情，而這些往往會在夢中出現。

How important is sleep for children?

睡眠對兒童有多重要？

Sleep is so important for children, because there's a lot of things your body needs to do during the day, one of the most important things is being at school, and being at school takes a lot of brain energy, you've got to get to school really early in the morning, you've got to make sure you've had breakfast, you've got to work in class, and then there's playtime, and then there's eating, and then there's talking to your friends, and then there's making sure that you answer questions in class, and so all those body functions require you to be really rested.

睡眠對孩子來說非常重要，因為你的身體在白天需要做很多事情，其中最重要的事情之一就是上學，而上學需要耗費大量的腦力、你要確保自己吃過早餐，要在課堂上做作業，然後是玩耍時間，然後是吃飯時間，然後是和朋友哈拉，然後是確保自己在課堂上回答問題，是以所有這些身體機能都需要你得到充分的休息。

So sleep is really important for children because it prepares you for the day ahead.

是以，睡眠對孩子來說非常重要，因為它能讓你為未來的一天做好準備。

How much sleep should kids get?

孩子應該睡多少覺？

I would say that children from about six to 12 years old should get about nine to 12 hours.

我認為，6 至 12 歲的兒童應該有 9 至 12 個小時的睡眠時間。

That's really important, nine to 12 hours of good quality sleep.

九到十二個小時的優質睡眠真的很重要。

What happens to people when they sleep?

人睡覺時會發生什麼？

So great question.

問得好

There are quite a few stages of sleep.

睡眠有幾個階段。

But important to know is that there's light sleep, so just as you're going to sleep, someone could tap you on the shoulder and you'll wake up.

但要知道的是，睡眠有輕度睡眠，所以就在你要入睡的時候，有人可能會拍拍你的肩膀，然後你就會醒過來。

And then there's a deeper sleep where our eyes are actually moving really rapidly under our closed eyelids, and that's called REM sleep, rapid eye movement sleep.

還有一種更深層次的睡眠，在這種睡眠中，我們的眼睛會在緊閉的眼皮下快速轉動，這就是快速眼動睡眠。

And in that sleep we're dreaming.

在睡夢中，我們在做夢。

And then as we come out of that, it becomes lighter sleep again, and that's when we either wake up by ourselves and enjoy the day, or someone can wake us up in the morning and we wake up and we feel really replenished.

當我們從睡夢中醒來時，睡眠會變得更輕鬆，這時我們要麼自己醒來，享受新的一天，要麼有人在早晨叫醒我們，我們醒來後會感覺自己得到了真正的補充。

What should we avoid doing before bedtime to help us sleep?

為了幫助睡眠，我們應該避免在睡前做什麼？

No electronics, exercise is amazing, but not before bed, large meal, not before bed, a heavy drink, not before bed, having a bedtime routine is amazing, like a warm bath, shower, a light book, and maybe you can just talk to your parent before you go to sleep.

不使用電子產品，運動很好，但不要在睡前；大餐，不要在睡前；烈性酒，不要在睡前；睡前作息很好，比如泡個溫水澡、衝個淋浴、看本輕柔的書，也許你還可以在睡前和父母聊聊天。

Those are my top tips.

這些就是我的頂級祕訣。